Ice storage tray for ice spheres

ABSTRACT

An ice support and storage tray includes one or more cavities having upwardly facing spherical surface portions that support spherical pieces of ice. The tray is preferably made of a material having a low thermal conductivity to reduce melting of the spherical pieces of ice. The spherical support surfaces minimize melting points that could otherwise cause the spherical pieces of ice to melt and develop irregular surface shapes. The ice tray may be used in a freezer having an ice maker that transports spheres of ice to the ice support cavities. The ice storage tray may be configured to permit removal of spheres of ice without tipping the tray upside down and/or twisting/deforming the tray.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/059,446, entitled “APPARATUS FOR MAKING, STORING AND MINIMIZINGMELTING OF SPHERICAL PIECES OF ICE,” filed on Mar. 3, 2016, which is acontinuation of U.S. Pat. No. 9,310,116, entitled “ICE STORAGE TO HOLDICE AND MINIMIZE MELTING OF ICE SPHERES,” issued on Apr. 12, 2016. Theentire disclosures of the application and patent listed above are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various types of ice makers have been developed. Known ice makers maymake ice “cubes” in the form of cubes or other shapes. However, if theice cubes are stored together in a box-like tray or the like, the shapeof the “cubes” may change due to melting of portions of the ice cubes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention is a method of storing sphericalpieces of ice. The method includes providing a freezer having arefrigerated space that can be maintained at a temperature below thefreezing point of water. The method also includes providing an ice makerconfigured to produce a plurality of spherical pieces of ice, eachspherical piece of ice having a substantially spherical outer surfacedefining a first radius. The method includes providing a tray having aplurality of upwardly opening ice supporting cavities, wherein each icesupport cavity has a concave surface defining a portion of a spherehaving a second radius that is substantially equal to the first radiuswhereby spherical pieces of ice formed by the ice maker fit closely inthe ice support cavities. The method further includes positioning thetray in the refrigerated space at a predefined location relative to theice maker. Pieces of ice are transported from the ice maker to the icesupport cavities, and the pieces of ice are positioned in the icesupport cavities.

These and other features, advantages, and objects of the presentinvention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled inthe art by reference to the following specification, claims, andappended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an ice maker including an ice trayaccording to one aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the ice maker of FIG. 1 taken alongthe line II-II;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of an ice tray according to one aspect ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the ice tray of FIG. 3 taken alongthe line IV-IV;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the ice tray of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a partially fragmentary cross sectional view of an ice trayaccording to another aspect of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,”“left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivativesthereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in FIG. 1. However, itis to be understood that the invention may assume various alternativeorientations and step sequences, except where expressly specified to thecontrary. It is also to be understood that the specific devices andprocesses illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in thefollowing specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of theinventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specificdimensions and other physical characteristics relating to theembodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting,unless the claims expressly state otherwise.

With reference to FIG. 1, an ice maker 1 according to one aspect of thepresent invention includes a housing 2 and a drawer 4 that may be movedbetween a closed position “A” and an open position “B.” The drawer 4 mayinclude a handle 6 that can be grasped by a user to thereby shift thedrawer 4 from the closed position A to the open position B as shown bythe arrow “X.” In the illustrated example, the ice maker 1 is arelatively compact unit that can be positioned on a counter top or thelike. The ice maker one may include an upper surface 8 that isconfigured to support glasses 10, bottles 12, and other such items.

With further reference to FIG. 2, housing 2 defines an internal cavity14. An ice maker 16 includes first and second mold parts 18 and 19 thattogether define a spherical cavity 22 when the mold parts 18 and 20 arein a closed position relative to one another. Ice maker 1 may include aninsulated refrigerator compartment 24 that is cooled by a refrigerationunit 26 disposed within housing 2. Refrigeration unit 26 may comprise aconventional refrigeration unit having a compressor, an evaporator, anda condenser, or it may comprise other suitable refrigeration systems.Alternatively a thermoelectric or other cooling source may be used. Inother cases, it may be desirable to keep the temperature near but abovefreezing to avoid frost buildup in housing 2 or on the ice made. Thismay be done by driving a cooling source, such as the refrigeration unit26, a thermoelectric or other cool sourcing, the ice mold itself, thecreated ice pieces or a combination thereof. For example it may bepreferable to keep the temperature during storage of ice spheres between32 degrees and 50 degrees Fahrenheit, or even more preferable tomaintain it between 34 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit or at some othersimilar range.

Refrigeration unit 26 includes a water supply unit 28 that may supplywater to the cavity 22 through a conduit 30. The refrigeration unit 26may be connected to a power supply utilizing a conventional power cordand plug 32. The refrigeration unit 26 may also be connected to a watersource utilizing a fluid conduit 36.

In use, water is supplied to the spherical cavity 22 with the mold parts18 and 20 in the closed position. After the ice freezes to form aspherical piece of ice 40, one of the mold parts 18 shifts to an openposition, thereby permitting a spherical piece of ice 40 to drop into anice support cavity 44 of an ice tray 42. The ice maker 16 may include asingle spherical cavity 22 that produces one spherical piece of ice 40at a time. Alternately, the ice maker 16 may include a plurality ofspherical cavities 22 that simultaneously produce a plurality ofspherical ice pieces 40. For example, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3,ice maker 16 may include three spherical cavities 22A, 22B, and 22C toproduce three spherical pieces of ice 40 that drop into a correspondingrow 46A, 46B, or 46C, respectively of ice support cavities 44 of an icetray 42. It will be understood that the ice maker 16 may comprise avariety of devices capable of making spherical pieces of ice, and theice maker 16 therefore does not necessarily comprise mold parts 18 and20 as shown in FIG. 2.

In the illustrated example, the spherical pieces of ice 40 arepositioned directly above ice support cavities 44 at the time they arereleased from the mold parts 18 and 20. The spherical pieces of icetherefore drop directly into the ice support cavities 44. This droppingtransports the spherical pieces of ice 40 from the ice maker 16 to thecavities 44 of tray 42. The mold parts 18 and 20 may be shifted fore andaft in the direction of the arrow “Y” (FIG. 2) to align the mold parts18 and 19 above a specific row 46A, 46B, or 46C of tray 42 prior toopening of mold part 18. Refrigeration unit 26 may include a controllerthat is operably connected to a powered actuator (not shown) to therebyselectively shift the mold parts 18 and 20 in fore-aft directions. Thespherical pieces of ice 40 can thereby be dropped into the cavities 44of a selected row 46A, 46B, or 46C. Alternately, spherical pieces of ice40 may be transported by rails (not shown) or other suitable devices orstructures to transport the spherical pieces of ice 40 from the moldparts 18 and 20 to selected ice support cavities 44.

With reference to FIG. 3, ice support tray 42 may include a plurality ofrows 46A, 46B, and 46C of cavities 44. However, tray 42 could comprise asingle row of cavities 44 if required for a particular application.Furthermore, the cavities could be arranged in such a way that rows arenot formed. The cavities 44 are defined by concave surfaces 48. Theconcave surfaces 48 are generally spherical with a radius “R1” (FIG. 4)that is substantially identical to a radius “R2” of spherical pieces ofice 40. Each cavity 44 defines four edges 50 that are formed by upwardlyfacing concave edge surfaces 52.

Each spherical piece of ice 40 (FIG. 4) defines a radius R1 that issubstantially identical to a radius R2 of concave surface 48 of icesupport cavities 44. In a preferred embodiment, R1 and R2 are about 25mm, such that ice spheres 40 have a diameter of about 50 mm. However, itwill be understood that the ice spheres 40 (and cavities 44) may besignificantly larger or smaller. In general, the ice spheres arepreferably about 20 mm to about 80 mm in diameter, but sizes outsidethis range are also possible.

Referring again to FIG. 4, ice support cavities 44 and spherical piecesof ice 40 define coincident center points “C.” The center points Cdefine a horizontal plane “P.” The lowermost portions of the concaveedge surfaces 52 are spaced downwardly a distance “V” from the plane P.The distance V is preferably at least about one third or one half of theradius R1 (or R2). The side portions 54 of spherical pieces of ice 40project sidewardly somewhat, thereby exposing a surface portion 56 ofeach spherical piece of ice 40 that is below the center plane P. Surfaceportions 56 face outwardly and downwardly. The surface 56 can thereforebe grasped by a user to enable the user to pull the individual sphericalpieces of ice 40 upwardly out of cavities 44.

Also, with further reference to FIG. 5, adjacent spherical pieces of ice40 are spaced apart a diagonal distance “H,” where the distance H ismeasured directly above surfaces 58. Surfaces 58 of tray 24 aregenerally planar, upwardly-facing surfaces that are disposed at thecenters of four adjacent cavities 44. The distance H is preferably largeenough to permit a user's thumb 60 and fingers to be inserted forgrasping spherical pieces of ice 40. The distance H is preferably about20 mm or greater, and more preferably 25 mm or more to provide clearancefor a user's fingers. Tongs 64 or other suitable implement may beutilized to contact surface 56 to permit removal of spherical pieces ofice 40. This permits the tray 42 to remain in drawer 4 during removal ofspherical pieces of ice 40. Thus, in contrast to known trays that areused to form ice cubes, the storage tray 42 does not necessarily need tobe tipped over to remove spheres of ice 40.

With further reference to FIG. 6, a tray 42A according to another aspectof the present disclosure is similar to the tray 42 of FIGS. 3-5.However, tray 42A includes an opening 66 having a radius R3. Radius R3is somewhat smaller than the radii R1 and R2. For example, if R1 and R2are 25 mm, R3 may be 20 mm.

As ice sphere 40 melts, liquid water flows out of opening 66 and dripsor flows into a water recovery area such as bin 68 (FIG. 2) positionedbelow tray 42. Removal of melted water from cavity 44A reduces heattransfer from ice spheres 40 into the liquid water and thereby slowsdown the melting of ice spheres 40. A drain line 70 may be connected tobin 68 to provide for drainage of water from bin 68. Referring again toFIG. 6, as ice sphere 40 melts, the size of the ice sphere 40 isgradually reduced. The ice sphere 40 eventually falls through opening 66and into bin 68 (FIG. 2). This automatically clears the cavities 44A.Ice maker 16 may be operably connected to a switch or other sensor (notshown) whereby the ice maker is actuated and makes new ice spheres 40once the melted spheres 40 have dropped into bin 68.

The ice storage tray 42 is preferably made of a material havingrelatively low thermal conduction to thereby prevent or reduce transferof heat from the spherical pieces of ice 40 in a manner that couldotherwise cause portions of the spherical surface 38 pieces of ice 40 tomelt. In a preferred embodiment, storage tray 42 is made of a polymermaterial having a thermal conductivity of about 2 W/° Cm. The tray 42may also comprise a material having an even lower thermal conductivityof about 0.1 W/° Cm or less. Because the ice support cavities 44 have aconcave spherical surface 48 that contacts the outer surface 38 ofspherical pieces of ice 40, the spherical pieces of ice 40 do notdevelop irregularities in areas of contact that could otherwise occur ifthe support cavities 44 had a non spherical surface shape.

It is also to be understood that variations and modifications can bemade on the aforementioned structures and methods without departing fromthe concepts of the present invention, and further it is to beunderstood that such concepts are intended to be covered by thefollowing claims unless these claims by their language expressly stateotherwise.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An ice storage tray comprising: a tray bodyhaving an upper side and a lower side, the upper side including aplurality of ice-receiving cavities, each cavity having anupwardly-facing spherical concave surface portion defining a cavityradius, the tray body including at least one drain opening at a bottomof each ice-receiving cavity to drain liquid water from melting icespheres positioned in the ice-receiving cavities.
 2. The ice storagetray of claim 1, wherein: each ice-receiving cavity includes an upperedge surface having a horizontal dimension that is less than the cavityradius such that side portions of spherical pieces of ice havingradiuses that are equal to the cavity radius project sidewardly from theupper edge surface to enable a user to pull individual spherical piecesof ice out of the ice-receiving cavities.
 3. The ice storage tray ofclaim 2, wherein: the upper edge surface includes a plurality of concaveportions.
 4. The ice storage tray of claim 1, wherein: the ice-receivingcavities form at least one row.
 5. The ice storage tray of claim 4,wherein: the tray body includes a plurality of rows of ice-receivingcavities.
 6. The ice storage tray of claim 3, wherein: the ice-receivingcavities are substantially identical in size to one another.
 7. The icestorage tray of claim 1, wherein: the ice-receiving cavities of the traydefine a plurality of concave upper edge surfaces between adjacentice-receiving cavities, each concave upper edge surface defining alowermost portion, the ice-receiving cavities having coplanar centerpoints that are vertically spaced above the lowermost portions of theconcave upper edge surfaces by a vertical distance.
 8. The ice storagetray of claim 7, wherein: the vertical distance is at least one thirdthe cavity radius.
 9. The ice storage tray of claim 1, wherein: the traybody comprises a polymer material having a thermal conductivity of about2 W/° cm.